Lady Warriors off to strong start

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ZEPHYR COVE, Nev. - Amanda Harris opened the lady Warriors' first league game with authority.

Amanda's 13-point second quarter helped Whittell climb out to a comfortable 22-9 lead at halftime. A strong defense and few turnovers carried the girls to a 37-24 win in their league home opener Saturday.

"We came out strong in the first quarter and then outscored them 13-7 in the second quarter," girls coach Tom Esposito said.

The explosive first half allowed the Warriors to comfortably coast in the second.

More impressive than their strong start, was the clean ball the girls played. The Warriors fewer turnovers and fouls were the biggest difference maker Saturday.

The day before, in Yerington, the girls gave up 40 turnovers and 20 fouls in a 49-16 nonleague loss.

Saturday, they cut that to seven fouls, nine turnovers and it equaled one cruise-control win.

As usual, Emily Harris ran a sharp offense, and delivered key assists to contribute to her sister Amanda's scoring onslaught. Tori Jimenez held North Tahoe's top scorers off with help from freshman Kenya Maltase, who is become a regular fixture on the varsity floor.

"She's definitely a varsity player and we're going to get her more time as the season goes on," Esposito said. "She's a defensive threat."

North Tahoe gained some momentum in the fourth, outscoring Whittell 10-5.

"In the fourth quarter we talked about slowing it down, and running time off the clock because we had a big lead, and we made some bad choices and turnovers," Esposito said. "We had most of our turnovers in the fourth quarter. So they were able to capitalize on that."

The North Tahoe surge was too little, too late though. The Warriors easily held onto their 13-point advantage.